I'm not downplaying the seriousness of misogyny. But we're engaged in conversation regarding asteroids at the cost of neglecting a planet sized pile of economic problems and environmental concerns barreling toward us.

You really need to take a step back and get some perspective, Chicken Little.

The asteroid you're warning about hit 20+ years ago. So far we've been generally okay weathering the ripple effects.

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Maybe it's time we wake up and stop allowing the tail (real, but still secondary social issues) to stop wagging the dog in terms of policy debate?

Then we get to civil rights - most notably the emergence of a police state within our borders;

If only everyone cared enough to vote for the candidate who at least wasn't promising to make it worse...

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Next on to the environmental crisis (anyone else notice summer came two months early this year?)

If only everyone cared enough to vote for the candidate who at least wasn't promising to make it worse...

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Then on to privacy rights, as in the right not to be spied on by domestic agencies,

If only everyone cared enough to vote for the candidate who at least wasn't promising to make it worse...

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and a woman's absolute right to make all decisions regarding her body AND any fetus within it.

If only everyone cared enough to vote for the candidate who at least wasn't promising to make it worse...

And yes, I know, you think Hillary wasn't going to make any of those things actually better (I think we can all agree that you're probably mainly wrong), but again, the other guy was explicitly promising to move in the opposite direction on these things.

That's disheartening, as "automation" should hold that title by many multiples of its closest challenger.

I'm not downplaying the seriousness of misogyny. But we're engaged in conversation regarding asteroids at the cost of neglecting a planet sized pile of economic problems and environmental concerns barreling toward us.

Maybe it's time we wake up and stop allowing the tail (real, but still secondary social issues) to stop wagging the dog in terms of policy debate? Maybe use Maslow's Hierarchy as a start:

First we talk economics, which controls everything (and we stop dithering around tired talking-point solutions like 'education,' and directly address automation);
Then we get to civil rights - most notably the emergence of a police state within our borders;
Next on to the environmental crisis (anyone else notice summer came two months early this year?);
Then on to privacy rights, as in the right not to be spied on by domestic agencies, and a woman's absolute right to make all decisions regarding her body AND any fetus within it.

After we tear through all of those, I think it's time to debate the crisis of flyover state misogynists. I'm not saying it isn't problem. I'm saying it appears to me, that if I wanted to divide and conquer people, and keep them from the discussing the more immediate and dire issues, it's the kind of subject I'd encourage the masses to argue.

We need to prioritize a bit better in this country. We allow ourselves to be divided and conquered on so many secondary matters and rarely discuss the really serious shit. Seeing so much ink spilled on the issues lower down the ladder of importance reminds me of listening to gold bugs. One can't help thinking, "If the possible events of which you're so concerned occur, gold won't be worth shit... the currency will be seeds and bullets." If we don't address automation and the environment, in the not too distant future, debating whether a head of state acquired that position via sexism or unfairness of the media will be the most decadent of parlor conversations.

Actually, misogyny is absolutely critical for understanding economic problems in this country.

Right now, the most significant constraint on the growth of the tech industry is availability of talent, and the biggest reason tech companies take good jobs abroad is not to find cheap labor but to find good engineers and scientists. China's production of engineers is mind-boggling.

In the US, I don't think we're going to significantly increase the number of white boys who go for tech or science careers. Huge numbers of them have the opportunity and support (100% in most suburban areas), and choose to do something else.

The largest untapped source of tech talent inside the US right now is girls who are being dissuaded from pursuing tech careers by misogyny. That number is huge. Watching what my daughter has to deal with in her engineer training you get a good sense of how many barriers there are. You want lower immigration? Train young girls in science.

The second largest untapped source of tech talent inside the US is African American and Hispanic, but that's not about misogyny, that's something else.

The asteroid you're warning about hit 20+ years ago. So far we've been generally okay weathering the ripple effects.

To what exactly are you referring? I recall the mid 90s being pretty glassy seas.

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Yes, super secondary to the white, straight, cis guy.

Did you just drop "cis" on me? Seriously?

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First we smash the looms.

No. First we discuss guaranteed income. Or at least discuss something about automation. It's been the 800 lb gorilla for a decade now, and yet everyone avoids constructive conversation regarding it. "Oh, let's just avoid that... It can't be fixed, or alternatively, it'll go away... Like that hysteria over the environment. Thank God we ignored that."

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And yes, I know, you think Hillary wasn't going to make any of those things actually better (I think we can all agree that you're probably mainly wrong), but again, the other guy was explicitly promising to move in the opposite direction on these things.

If we're too dumb to respond to anything until it's a horrific crisis, and that is clearly the case, perhaps he's that total fucking train wreck we've needed all this time...

__________________
All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.

Actually, misogyny is absolutely critical for understanding economic problems in this country.

Right now, the most significant constraint on the growth of the tech industry is availability of talent, and the biggest reason tech companies take good jobs abroad is not to find cheap labor but to find good engineers and scientists. China's production of engineers is mind-boggling.

In the US, I don't think we're going to significantly increase the number of white boys who go for tech or science careers. Huge numbers of them have the opportunity and support (100% in most suburban areas), and choose to do something else.

The largest untapped source of tech talent inside the US right now is girls who are being dissuaded from pursuing tech careers by misogyny. That number is huge. Watching what my daughter has to deal with in her engineer training you get a good sense of how many barriers there are. You want lower immigration? Train young girls in science.

The second largest untapped source of tech talent inside the US is African American and Hispanic, but that's not about misogyny, that's something else.

Anything hampering innovation is a serious problem. But misogyny in tech is a narrow phenomenon. (I also don't want to lower immigration. That'd really fuck innovation.)

It just seems that the sooner we get ahead of planning for automation, the more we might be able to harness it for progress, rather than view it as some enemy of workers.

Why not have the conversation, nationally, loudly, about how we can move forward toward Keynes' 15 hour workweek? Why is that only the subject of TED talks, or weirdos like us? Are we afraid that people might not be receptive to the idea of working 1/4 what they do right now? That there's a majority of people anywhere in the world who'd say, "I do not wish to hear about how I might work less and spend more time with my family! I do not want to spend more of my time in leisure, thank you very much... I prefer to have technology continue enslaving me and causing me to work nearly around the clock instead of putting it to use for me." A person of such demented mindset would be committed!

ETA: We have this really dumb view that creativity and great developments, great art, etc. accrue from people putting in endless hours. (Fuck you very much, Malcolm Gladwell's 10k Hr. Rule.) Of course you have to work to see good results. But a harried, multitasking, endlessly-on-call worker is not a fount of innovation. He's a guy treading water. His juices are spent, and he's not recharging enough to have necessary insights to create anything innovative (excellent proof is the LSD micro-dosing going on in Silicon Valley... if you need to drop a quarter hit of acid to find your creative and productive self, you're in a malfunctioning system [not that there's anything wrong with taking hallucinogens, which everyone should be required to do for the benefit of society generally]).

If we can sleep, if we can slow down from time to time... if we can be at peace for just a bit of time every day, we can do in 15 minutes what our burned-out selves take 2 hrs to complete. And the scientific proof of what happens to a mind absorbing too much short bit information and never sleeping is right before us: Trump.

__________________
All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.

Actually, misogyny is absolutely critical for understanding economic problems in this country.

Right now, the most significant constraint on the growth of the tech industry is availability of talent, and the biggest reason tech companies take good jobs abroad is not to find cheap labor but to find good engineers and scientists. China's production of engineers is mind-boggling.

In the US, I don't think we're going to significantly increase the number of white boys who go for tech or science careers. Huge numbers of them have the opportunity and support (100% in most suburban areas), and choose to do something else.

The largest untapped source of tech talent inside the US right now is girls who are being dissuaded from pursuing tech careers by misogyny. That number is huge. Watching what my daughter has to deal with in her engineer training you get a good sense of how many barriers there are. You want lower immigration? Train young girls in science.

The second largest untapped source of tech talent inside the US is African American and Hispanic, but that's not about misogyny, that's something else.

__________________ "In the olden days before the internet, you'd take this sort of person for a ride out into the woods and shoot them, as Darwin intended, before he could spawn."--Will the Vampire People Leave the Lobby? pg 79

First we talk economics, which controls everything (and we stop dithering around tired talking-point solutions like 'education,' and directly address automation);
Then we get to civil rights - most notably the emergence of a police state within our borders;
Next on to the environmental crisis (anyone else notice summer came two months early this year?);
Then on to privacy rights, as in the right not to be spied on by domestic agencies, and a woman's absolute right to make all decisions regarding her body AND any fetus within it.

Ah. I'm glad I have this handy list of what my priorities should be. Do you have a laminated version?

That's disheartening, as "automation" should hold that title by many multiples of its closest challenger.

I'm not downplaying the seriousness of misogyny. But we're engaged in conversation regarding asteroids at the cost of neglecting a planet sized pile of economic problems and environmental concerns barreling toward us.

Maybe it's time we wake up and stop allowing the tail (real, but still secondary social issues) to stop wagging the dog in terms of policy debate? Maybe use Maslow's Hierarchy as a start:

First we talk economics, which controls everything (and we stop dithering around tired talking-point solutions like 'education,' and directly address automation);
Then we get to civil rights - most notably the emergence of a police state within our borders;
Next on to the environmental crisis (anyone else notice summer came two months early this year?);
Then on to privacy rights, as in the right not to be spied on by domestic agencies, and a woman's absolute right to make all decisions regarding her body AND any fetus within it.

After we tear through all of those, I think it's time to debate the crisis of flyover state misogynists. I'm not saying it isn't problem. I'm saying it appears to me, that if I wanted to divide and conquer people, and keep them from the discussing the more immediate and dire issues, it's the kind of subject I'd encourage the masses to argue.

We need to prioritize a bit better in this country. We allow ourselves to be divided and conquered on so many secondary matters and rarely discuss the really serious shit. Seeing so much ink spilled on the issues lower down the ladder of importance reminds me of listening to gold bugs. One can't help thinking, "If the possible events of which you're so concerned occur, gold won't be worth shit... the currency will be seeds and bullets." If we don't address automation and the environment, in the not too distant future, debating whether a head of state acquired that position via sexism or unfairness of the media will be the most decadent of parlor conversations.

You supremely arrogant fuck. You seriously believe you have the omniscience and infallible wisdom to preach to fucking EVERYBODY about what their priorities and concerns should be? Hey mom who lost her gay son to anti-gay violence -- stop your incessant complaining, you are way down the priority chain. Black mom who lost her son to police violence -- good news, you're priority #2! The absolute crazy thing is that you actually pay lip service to how horrible it is that the elite intellectuals are always telling the masses how to think and what to care about. I'm not even going to comment on you relegating misogyny to a fringe problem in flyover land. That is more substantive response than this post deserves.

Here is your number one priority for this board -- bringing the funk. Skull Snaps. "Trespassin'." The Daily Dose: